Your problems are my problems
by Kirea-K
Summary: Placed after episode 6.5, though originally thought to be placed after 6.4, and re-written. How does Owen react to Cristina being hurt?
1. Your problems are my problems

He stood at her door with a 6-pack, wondering how mad she would be at him. It had hurt him to see the pain in her eyes, but what had hurt him the most had been to see her give up "forget it" she had said. Last days had been crazy, and she had been having a rough time, but she had never stopped fighting or scheming. He could not help remembering the penis surgery joke or seeing her flirt with shadow Shepard. She had even panicked and tried to convince him to plead to the chief for her. She had been wrong but at least she had been trying. And now she was giving up. That, he couldn't understand.

He understood her being mad at him, and really pissed about her lack of surgeries, but she was a fighter. And he knew something was really wrong; he had seen defeat in her eyes. He hoped she would be unwinding, watching some hardcore heart surgery and waiting for him. She had been so tense and craving surgeries that she really needed to relax. It had taken him over two hours after the end of his shift to complete the paperwork, and he had not been able to find her after his last surgery. Having more residents in his OR, made it more frantic and increased administrative work. Sometimes he felt that being department head meant more paperwork than surgeries.

What was taking her so long to open the door? He wondered, worried that she was angry enough not to open. He knocked again; getting impatient. Maybe she was somewhere else…

She opened the door with half a smile and with her iPod headphones around her neck.

"Hey stranger" she said hanging from his neck and pulling him inside with a kiss.

"Mmmm, I thought you would be mad at me… are you not going to make me pay for the surgery this evening?" He asked, surprised, against her mouth.

"Oh, you will definitely be paying." She answered with a full smile. "But right now I have a lot of tension to release… ideas?" She teased him while closing the door behind him.

He kissed her passionately, leading her to the bedroom. He knew that something was wrong, and that she was trying to brush it aside with sex. He knew he shouldn't give in. That, he had learnt from his shrink. Do not get lost in lust… and then the bed full of brochures caught his eye, with her laptop on it… another thing out of place. "Mmmm not watching surgery?" he asked still against her mouth.

"This?" She asked a bit hesitating… separating from him. "Well… I am analyzing my options for finishing the residency…"

"What??!!" He asked; passion completely forgotten, and a little impatient at her insecurity. "Cristina, I know you are worried, but you are exaggerating! You are the best surgical resident in the hospital. Everybody knows it. So, relax, you are not going to get cut!.. I know that some of the new guys did a nice work today… sorry if I wanted to give them a chance, and to make them feel welcome… but it does not mean that I do not appreciate your skills…" He said with concern in his voice, while holding her arms.

She bit her lips softly, wondering how to explain it. "Last week I asked the chief to cut me off the program". Her voice was shaking and her chocolate eyes bright with tears.

For the first time, he was just out of words, the idea of her leaving was a punch to his stomach, and so, he just hugged her, and felt her distress in the heavy breathing. "But... why? Why would you do that?" he asked after a while, caressing her hair, soothing her. Fear clenching his gut, and making him feel nauseous. The idea of being in Seattle without her was definitely making him physically sick.

"I am not learning, Owen. There is no Cardio attending to teach me anything…" she whispered, her cheek against his chest "I'm good Owen, I am the best… and it's stupid that I have to fight for surgeries I do not even care about… the one today? I could have done it with my eyes closed. I could have made it solo… and I found myself craving it… Attendings should be fighting to have _me_ in their ORs… And last week, when I asked the chief to cut me off the program… it had been a week since my last surgery; and then, when finally I got one, it was a joke… I need hearts Owen. I need to feel hearts in my hands; I need to feel the hearts beat steady before I close. But I still have a lot to learn, and I just cannot do it here. I will never be a Cardio-God if I stay here…" She really couldn't continue talking, and she just sighed, hugging him, actually listening to his strong heart beat, slightly accelerated.

Still holding her, trying to control the rush of emotions running through his veins, he brought her to the bed, and with one swift movement, he sat down, with her wrapped in his arms; just as she had done after his panic attack. Now it was his time to be there for her.

He closed his eyes for a second and thought about his life without her. He thought how she had become his rock, his everything; and then, he knew what he had to do. He softly kissed the top of her head, took one of the brochures lying at his side, and gave it a thoughtful look.

"So, Dr. Yang, where are you suggesting we move? Do I get a say in the choice? Which criteria are we applying?"

"What?" she said, raising her head to be able to look into his eyes… "Are you implying..? Would you…?" Trying to restrain the hope in her voice, and unable to hide the surprise.

"Cristina, I can be a trauma surgeon anywhere, and you are right. You are not getting the teaching you deserve here. When I said that my problems were your problems, I also meant that your problems are my problems. And this is one we are going to solve. Together" He continued, taking her hand to his mouth to place a kiss on it.

"But, you are just back… and your mom lives here…"

He did not allow her to finish. "Listen Cristina, my family will be happy as long as I stay safe in the country; and never forget that _you _are my family. There is not much I can do for you in this situation. I wish I could mentor you into being a cardio-god; and put thousands of hearts in your hands to repair, but I cannot. I can only put one… Wherever you go, I go with you."

Tears swelled to her eyes again… happy, annoying tears… "See what you do to me! … you've turned me into a water pot!" She said half laughing, half sobbing, while kissing him… and then she became serious whispering "I love you Owen Hunt". Slowly, she kicked her shoes, snuggled up to him, and allowed the exhaustion of the previous days to take over her. A big weight had been lifted from her shoulders.


	2. The Gift

She woke up alone in bed, and frowned. Where was he...? and when had she begun to miss him in the morning? She was not the clingy girlfriend that needed her BF there 24/7… but she missed him waking her up with a kiss.

She discarded the feeling with contempt, and headed for the shower. It was really late, but she had still over two hours until the beginning of her shift, which was good, because sleeping in had made her well; and so had Owen during the last weeks with his assurance that he would support her decision of leaving. Somehow she had not realized until then that leaving Owen was the worst thing about leaving Seattle. Knowing that she did not have to choose between him and heart surgery had made her stronger. With him at her side, she could search for a cardio-god to teach her without haste. She could relax and enjoy life, because for the first time ever, she felt she could have everything. She could not help smiling on her way to the shower.

And then she saw him. He was sitting at the kitchen table… looking gorgeous, with his hair wet from the shower, wearing just an olive green t-shirt and his boxers, sipping at a cup of coffee, and with the newspaper displayed in front of him.

She leaned against the door, and left the domestic image slip in. She had not felt that well in a long time. She could not even give it a name. Happiness? Might be. She could not even remember the last time she had been happy. Well, she loved the rush of holding hearts in her hand. But holding his was actually much better, and made her happier.

Moving silently she approached him and bent to hug him from behind. She hugged his broad shoulders while placing a playful kiss on the side of his neck. She could not help laughing when the tickle made him shrug, and turn around to make her sit on his lap.

"Good morning Dr. Hunt" she said, kissing him playfully "was thinking you had already deserted me" she teased while caressing his cheek.

"Good morning Dr. Yang! I will be leaving in 10 minutes, so, I must hurry… you still have a couple of hours before your shift, so, have breakfast and relax. Today is going to be an interesting day, I promise" He said with a smile and a kiss. Unable to keep his hands off her.

"Why? What do you know? I can go earlier with you!" She asked, a bit anxious, kissing him again. "If the morning is slow we can find an on-call room to…"

"No!" he interrupted her laughing and kissing her back at the same time "It's a surprise. You are staying, and having breakfast. Have gotten you muffins, and your thermos is full of fresh coffee. I don't want you fainting in my ER like that big MercyWester"

"Mmmm" she pouted "I do not like surprises" but at the same time she got up with him, and followed him to the bedroom to see him get dressed.

A couple of minutes and some kisses later, he had left with a "Take care now" and she was sipping her coffee, wondering about his surprise with a smile.

****

She was in the cafeteria, sharing a table with Callie, discussing Callie's patient, when she saw him getting his lunch tray and talking to the blonde attending at his side.

"Who the hell is that? And what is she doing smiling at Owen?" She said, half interrupting Callie's tale, and nearly chocking on her sandwich "Why does he laugh at her comment?!" Callie followed Cristina's sight and couldn't help laughing at Cristina's expression. It was too rich to see impassive Cristina jealous.

"Cristina, you are jealous!" she teased, making Cristina glare at her and miss Owen from sight. "Of course I am not! I don't do jealous!" she complained. And then she saw them again, Owen guiding "Blondie" to their table, while Callie, was trying to keep a straight face.

"Hi! Yang, Torres, can we join?" He asked guiding the blonde woman to the first chair available, without waiting for an answer "Teddy, this is Dr. Cristina Yang, the resident I've told you about, she has been complaining about missing a Cardio attending to teach her for some time. And this is Dr. Calliope Torres, our most recent orthopedic attending. Dr. Yang, Dr. Torres, this is Dr. Theodora Miller, visiting us from Houston."

"You are Teddy Miller? The famous Teddy Miller??" Cristina asked with admiration in her voice. "Well, I do not know if famous, but I guess there are not many Teddy Millers around. Nice to meet you Dr. Yang" she answered amused.

"Oh my god! It's such a pleasure to meet you! I'm a big fan! I think I have seen hundreds of videos of your sugeries…" Cristina was definitely not speechless when she got exited, Owen thought smiling at her happiness. Nothing could make him happier than seeing her happy. And she really wouldn't stop describing Teddy's surgeries. It was too funny… even Callie was trying to keep a straight face.

Teddy could not suppress a smile at the emotion sounding in the young's doctor voice. She had once been young and excited about new surgeries. The girl really seemed to know her work, it was really flattering.

As she was enjoying the recognition, she saw Owen's face… and something suddenly froze inside her. She just wasn't listening to the brunette anymore. The adoration look in his face had just been a blow to her gut. He just wouldn't notice anything except the younger surgeon. She had been so happy, when Owen had called to tell her about an opening at his hospital. That he had thought of her when he had known that they were looking for a head of Cardio... Of course, he had not been anything but friendly, but… well; she had really hoped he had also missed HER. Actually, that had been the main reason for her exploration visit. She had really wanted to see him again.

She looked back at the younger woman. She was just oblivious of him, still talking about her surgeries, with shiny eyes... and she knew why she was there. Great! She was about to teach the woman he loved. How unfair could life be? Well, maybe she was not interested in him… she had nearly not looked at him once. Maybe she had rejected him, or he was trying to win her. She might have a chance there…she tried to convince herself. And before she could even continue wondering, all the pagers went off, "multiple trauma arriving", and they all went on emergency mode, jumping from their chairs, and heading quickly to the exit.

Cristina was happily rushing to the exit, wishing that one of the traumas would be heart related to scrub-in with Dr. Miller, and get to hold a heart in her hands, when she suddenly stopped on her tracks.

With the excitement of knowing that the blonde woman was Teddy Miller she had completely forgotten that only minutes ago she had been about to rip her apart with her bare hands. She had been smiling at Owen…he had even put a hand in her back, and he had called her "Teddy"… Did they know each other?... Was she hitting on Owen? Was he liking it?.. Oh, no, she realized; was SHE the surprise Owen had mentioned earlier?... She took a deep breath and tried to keep the calm. She remembered that she should be running to the ER, and she reminded herself, that she needed to be professional so, she continued, but most of the joy had disappeared. She would need to talk to Owen, but it should be later, now they had lives to save.


	3. Be careful with your wishes

Standing there in the OR Cristina understood for the first time the meaning of the expression "be careful what you wish for, least you get it". So much for her wish of getting a new Cardio mentor! Only minutes earlier she had been wishing a cardio case to come through their doors to scrub in with Dr. Miller. And here she was, repairing a heart for the first time in ages, and unable to enjoy it.

Oh, Miller was definitely good, and a great teacher. She had observed, made the right comments, allowed her to make a good part of the repair, and was even human enough to make her pause and realize the miracle they had just performed. What else could she wish for? Maybe she had forgotten to wish not to have seen the longing look that Miller had thrown at Owen before entering the OR. Or she could have done without Owen smiling at one of her comments while waiting for the ambulance; or the adoring expression on Miller's face when he smiled. She could definitely have lived with getting a cardio god NOT in love with her boyfriend. Destiny was definitely laughing at her.

These two had known each other long, it was obvious. Maybe from the residency? Common friends? Iraq? She took a deep breath and brushed aside all the personal crap. She had to focus on the stitches she was performing. She could not freak out about Miller right in front of her.

"Good job Dr. Yang! I see you can complete closing up, so, I am going to scrub out and see how Hunt is faring in the ER" Miller said just a couple of seconds later, and Cristina was able to guess a big smile under the mask.

Oh, Cristina thought, "Hunt" is so going to need a good explanation for this, and she continued with her stitches.

***

Owen had just confirmed to Teddy that they would be having a drink after their shifts at Joe's, and was waiting for Cristina to tell her.

He was happy his surprise had turned out so well. Seeing Cristina excited in the cafeteria had put a smile on his face for the whole day. He really wanted both women to get to know each other outside the hospital; they were going to get along really well. Teddy had always been a good friend in Iraq, one of the boys actually, so, it was nice to have a friend around to share some drinks and reminiscences. Wyatt kept saying that he needed to talk about his time in Iraq, and Teddy knew most of it, so, it might also help his healing. Yes, it had really been a great idea to suggest Miller to join SGH.

He smiled as Cristina's page interrupted this line of thought. He headed immediately for their favorite on-call room. He might even collect some "gratitude" before going to complete the paperwork.

"So?" Cristina asked as he entered the on-call room. Not the happiness look he had expected in her face.

"So.. what?" Owen replied a little confused…

"So, who the hell is Miller? What is she doing here? And where did you get her?" She asked drilling his chest with her finger "and do not tell me you met her just this morning!"

"Wh…?? Of course I did not meet her this morning; she made one tour on Iraq with me! She is your surprise! You needed a Cardio God, so I thought about Teddy! She is really good and she is a better solution than us leaving Seattle! What is wrong with you?" There was definitely something wrong there. "I thought you would be happy thanking me. You seemed to like her in the cafeteria. Did anything go wrong in the OR?" He continued, taking her face in his hands, and caressing her cheek with his thumb.

A little more calmed seeing his confusion; she stared at him for some seconds, left out a sigh and kissed him.

"So, let me get things straight… this is your idea of a gift… Bringing in a cardio-goddess for me… even if the woman is in love with you and will hate my guts when she finds out about us…" She really couldn't help smiling at the confusion that appeared in his face.

"Cristina, you get this wrong!" and he nearly barked a laugh "She is not in love with me! She was just one of the guys in Iraq! We all shared lots of drinks, and talk and comfort over there… I'm not even sure she likes men! Should I be worried about her hitting on you?" he joked and he kissed her into silence.

"Great, you are blind! I saw her looking at you today Owen… believe me. A woman knows competition when she sees it" She continued as he allowed her to speak again.

"Cristina, you are jealous" he said with a big smile, unable to stop himself from loving the idea of Cristina being jealous.

"I don't to jealous!" she protested adamantly. "That's a practical problem! She is going to hate me! Just like Hahn and will not teach me anything! Great to know that you are having fun" She protested, still wrapped in his arms.

"She will love you…and so that I can prove it we are joining her at Joe's for drinks when we finish, you will like her…"

And as he kissed her again, her pager started to beep… Bailey claiming her for surgery.

"OK, I will join you there." With a last peck in his lips, she left him, wondering, in the on-call room.

***

"Oh crap" was all he could think a couple of hours later; sharing a booth with Teddy at Joe's "Crap, Cristina was right… and she is going to kill me" he kept thinking. His face showing his discomfort. Teddy had just told him that she would have gone back to Iraq just to be with him. Not many interpretations left open.S

He could hear her, hurt about him not responding, trying to change the subject. He hated hurting Teddy, but he didn't know what to say, and all he could think of was Cristina, and how this would affect her. Besides, he didn't like the memories from Iraq that she was bringing up. Every passing second he was surer that he had made a mistake.

He swallowed the last sip of scotch, and quickly accepted her suggestion of shots. Nearly running to get up, and stop the uncomfortable situation.

He was just getting to the bar when she saw Cristina enter the establishment. She walked directly to him with a hint of a smile in her face, and directly passed her arm around his waist and planted a kiss on his mouth. It was a short kiss, as had been the one in the Bridge the day O'Malley had died; but knowing how Cristina hated public affection displays, he knew that it was a way to mark her territory, and couldn't help smiling.

"Hey, been here for long?" she asked still very close to him, while moving her hands up to his chest.

"Just about to get the second round. Shots this time" he answered "Vodka cranberry for you?" He asked. Looking at her beautiful dark eyes he could forget the rest of the world entirely. He could forget his discomfort with the whole situation, and he knew that everything was going to be fine. As long as she was at his side, nothing else mattered.

"Yep, but I'd rather help you carry the glasses"

From the other side of the bar; sitting alone in the booth, still pampering the remains of her scotch, she had seen her hug and kiss him. Well, if earlier that day she had hoped Yang wouldn't return his feelings, all doubts had dissipated. Great! She had just made a fool of herself in front of Owen.

She wished she could hate Cristina, or be mad at Owen, but she actually liked the younger surgeon, and could see both their normally hard faces soften upon staring at each other. She could not really fault him for trying to get a mentor for her; he was the kind of guy that would do anything for the person he loved. And the guy was definitely in love. But it was not love that made him see talent in Cristina. She was brilliant, and deserved a good teacher; she would definitely play in the major leagues one day with the right mentoring. She wished she had not taken his call; that her heart had not bolted upon hearing his voice, and that she didn't have a great job offer on the table. She just didn't know if she had it in her to stay and watch him happy with another woman; or if she would be able to mentor Cristina as she deserved and without bitterness.


End file.
